From today, the historic Old Fitzroy Hotel in Woolloomooloo will be the first business nationally to adopt the currency once exclusively found in the domain of tech-savvy libertarians.Once bitcoin is established with businesses, anyone with a smartphone and bitcoin wallet will be able to use their phone to scan a QR code that will be generated at the till.Hotel proprietor Garry Pasfield said when he first installed EFTPOS in his pub, he never thought people would use it.“We have to be progressive in this day and age because the world won’t stop for anyone,” Mr Pasfield said.“Like EFTPOS and even ATM machines, no one thought it would take off.“I thought I might as well jump on this bandwagon as well, while I can.”Beers should cost customers around 0.05 bitcoins, the equivalent of $7.Importantly for businesses, installing bitcoin software requires no more modification than ensuring a workable WiFi system.Mr Pasfield said: “I really think it’s something that could take off because it’s as safe as any other transaction — the only downside is the currency.

It’s a bit like gold in the way it’s bought and sold.”Bitcoin gained international headlines earlier this year when the price doubled and then collapsed over a few weeks.bitcoin shapeshiftRecently, the price of a single bitcoin has stabilised, this week trading at $135, down from its peak of more than $250 in April.Pub-goer Charlotte Gorman said she could realistically see her friends adopting the currency if more people started accepting it.“It’s one of those things where it’s a bit of a gamble, the price of the currency could fluctuate up and down and make it attractive for youngsters,” she said.Bitcoin was introduced in 2009 by a mysterious programmer known only as Satoshi Nakamoto, which is thought to be a pseudonym, and who has never given an interview.Bitcoins came to the attention of the Australian Taxation Office earlier this year when it argued the currency could be used to hide transactions and dodge tax.dogecoin chat

Despite analysts arguing the ability to trade currencies like bitcoin anonymously would make it a target for the underworld, the ATO said it was confident it could still track users.bitcoin silk road articleOne of Sydney’s more ancient and traditional pubs is the unlikely place to be trialling one of the newest and most innovative technologies of the modern day.bitcoin bet365Forget sleek, contemporary and stylish, The Old Fitzroy is as character-filled as they come and is now Australia’s first known pub to start accepting bitcoin.bitcoin dopePublican Garry Pasfield will start taking bitcoins at the bar from 29th September, at a launch event he is dubbing ‘Beer for Bitcoins.’ He made the decision to accept the currency after hearing so much about it from his brother, and learning about it from members of Sydney’s bitcoin meetup groups.ethereum stock coinbase

He is now hoping to capitalise on the Sydney market by becoming the first bricks and mortar business in the city to take a virtual currency.Located in the heart of the former working-class neighbourhood of Wooloomooloo, the pub is steeped in history and operates as a hotel as well as having a small theatre out the back.“What that boils down to is that we have a good cross-section of the market,” Garry says, naming locals, young people, backpackers and post-work drinkers among the regular crowd.“We cater for people from 18 to 80 and we have a good opportunity with the tech-savvy youngsters,” he says.Garry is no stranger to technology having already implemented a sophisticated, computerised payment and stock system, which he says some premises are only just beginning to adopt, and there is free wifi throughout the venue - invaluable when customers make their bitcoin transactions.He has had help adapting the point of sale device to accept bitcoin, which will generate a QR code for customers to scan with their smartphone when they purchase drinks or food.

In conjunction with the bitcoin launch, people unfamiliar or interested in the currency will have the opportunity to buy it and try it from traders in the bar in a small Satoshi Square-style event.There will also be information about how to download a bitcoin wallet so that people can start using it on the day.It is all in vast contrast to the way the pub presents itself, which Garry describes as having “a grunginess”.“People come here because it is small and old,” he says.He added: “But progress doesn’t stop for anybody and I’m interested in bitcoin because it is progressive.” The fact that “it is costing nothing to try it” also appeals to Garry.He will benefit from the relatively lower fees associated with taking bitcoin compared with credit cards as well.“A lot of people will like the opportunity to steer away from the big banks and the fact these multinationals are taking over is irking a lot of people,” Garry told us.“I think [bitcoin] has a lot of legs if it can establish itself, and it is surprising that there is an opportunity to avoid the big four [banks].” He will not, of course, be avoiding the taxman.

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has said it will continue to monitor bitcoin’s volatility and how widely it is accepted.“We use data-matching and industry benchmarking to focus on businesses that may not be reporting all their income and these would similarly identify businesses that may be under-reporting income received via a bitcoin payment system,” an ATO spokesman said.“The value used by the buyer and the seller in these transactions needs to be identical and consistent with market prices.” It might be an area the ATO has to start looking into more closely; The Old Fitzroy’s move is just one significant step in Sydney’s burgeoning bitcoin scene.Author of the new book, An Idiot’s Guide To Bitcoin, is Sydney artist Gustaf van Wyk, who will also be attending the pub’s launch event to talk about the technology and concepts surrounding the currency.The bitcoin meetups are also growing in popularity.The Sydney Bitcoin Users Group meets each week at the cavernous lower floor bar of 1 Martin Place in the city, but seventy-strong group is proof that the community is going anywhere but underground.

In fact, there are more than 130 members across the three bitcoin meetup groups hosted in the city.The Australian chapter of the Bitcoin Foundation has been born from one such group, with nine members from all over Australia and across the world.Jason Williams, one of the organisers, says they share the same vision as that of the Foundation in the US: “To promote bitcoin and offer apolitical advice on a range of topics regarding bitcoin.” Jon Matonis, executive director of the Bitcoin Foundation has welcomed the move.“Australia has been one of the early first-movers in organising local chapter efforts and they are considered a leader in the expansion of bitcoin globally.I look forward to engaging with the Sydney team in Australia,” he says.It is not just in Sydney where bitcoin is taking hold.In a country of fewer than 23 million people, bitcoin groups have sprung up in almost every state capital, alongside two in New Zealand.The Melbourne community is also thriving.Bitcoin advocate, Dale Dickins, who has hosted Bitcoin for Beginners events in the city views Australia as a key player in bitcoin adoption.